Fair Use Note

WARNING for European visitors: European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

2 May - Blogs I'm Following 2 of 2

*VOA:* *Monitor: 32 Civilians Killed by IS Attackers in Syrian Refugee Camp* At least 32 civilians were killed Tuesday in a surprise Islamic State attack near a refugee camp on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Spokesman Rami Abdel said, "At least five suicide attackers blew themselves up outside and inside the camp for Iraqi refugees and displaced Syrians." Kurdish and Syrian sources said many of the victims were residing in the temporary camp after fleeing fighting in areas of Syria and Iraq controlled by IS. *Read ...more »

To hear the establishment media tell it, you'd think that Donald Trump was the only president in American history ever to have extended a friendly hand to a murderous foreign autocrat. According to the critics, Trump relies upon his primitive reptile brain rather than upon his cerebral cortex whenever he performs foreign policy. When Trump reaches out to The Philippines' dastardly Rodrigo Duterte, he's being stupid and naive. When, on the other hand, Barack Obama sold Saudi autocrats billions of dollars in weapons with which to to kill innocent Yemenis, he was being coolly pragmatic...more »

Teresa Manning.Courtesy of HuffPo: *Manning, a former lobbyist with the National Right to Life Committee and legislative analyst for the conservative Family Research Council, will serve as deputy assistant secretary for population affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Population Affairs administers the Title X program, which subsidizes contraception, Pap smears and other preventive health care services for 4 million low-income Americans, roughly half of whom are uninsured. * *Manning has said she opposes federal family planning funding, and she has ...more »

In 2014, a journal contacted researcher Denis Rousseau about one of his papers that had just been published online ahead of print, raising some concerns. According to Rousseau, he sent the journal a corrected figure “almost immediately,” which he believed addressed the issue. Rousseau, a cell biologist at the University Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France, said he then contacted the journal many […] The post Author objects to retraction after he says journal ignored his queries for three years appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Polling for the runoff in the GA-06 race to replace Tom Price is very tight-- incredible for such a red district-- and Jon Ossoff is slightly ahead of radical right Republican Karen Handel-- 48-47%. Republican outside groups-- primarily the NRCC, the Chamber of Commerce and Ryan's shady, corporately-financed SuperPAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund have already spent over $7 million tearing Ossoff down and trying to bolster Handel. Friday Trump was in Atlanta raising $750,000 for Handel's campaign. I don't think the new PPP surveys have been made public, but they conducted polls...more »

*North Carolina right-wing ideologue Mark Meadows opposes the bipartisan compromise* Late Sunday night, congressional staffers announced that Democratic and Republican negotiators reached a bipartisan agreement to fund government operations through September to the tune of over a trillion dollars, while ignoring Señor Trumpanzee's demands for money for the wall he repeatedly promised his voters Mexico would be paying for. The deal also rejected all Trump's crackpot proposals to cut popular domestic programs. In fact, the agreement will substantially increase funding for the National...more »

[image: undefined] A senior Rand analyst, inadvertently, gave the game away in a recent article inculpating Syrian President Bashar al Assad over the alleged toxic massacre of civilians on April 4. The Rand Corporation, a longtime conduit for CIA propaganda, wrote: "The use of chemical weapons today provokes international condemnation… Those who order their deployment risk being charged with war crimes." The Western objective, as tacitly admitted above, is therefore to brand the Syrian leader and his government as depraved war criminals, deserving pariah status and excommunication ...more »

*T**he Friendship Case caused a great media sensation in the early 1950's and 1960's, Mass UFO sightings, for example, Humans were working together with extraterrestrials in secret. Hundreds of people were involved**. The public wanted to know what was happening but no one could penetrate the mystery. Now after 50 years of silence, insider witnesses have decided to speak and hear is their basic message ~ **"**Love in its most unselfish sense, as well as ethics, respect and altruism should guide every thought and every action. These values are essential to ensure a safe...more »

*Time:* *Wilbur Ross: U.S. Airstrike on Syria Was 'After-Dinner Entertainment' for Mar-a-Lago* U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross called the April 6 U.S. missile strike on Syria "after-dinner entertainment" for President Donald Trump's guests at Mar-a-Lago during a conference on Monday. Ross, a billionaire banker without previous experience in government, was describing Trump's dinner with China's President Xi Jinping at the Florida club. He was speaking at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference, known for bringing together billionaires and leaders in Beverly Hills, Calif...more »

[image: belgium-saudiarabia] Leaked emails show that Belgium was instructed in advance to vote Saudi Arabia into UN Commission on the Status of Women. The post BUSTED lying! Leaked emails shows Belgium ordered to vote Saudi Arabia into UN’s women’s rights commission appeared first on The Duran.

[image: merkel putin] Putin reminded the German Chancellor of Europe's double-standards and lack of clarity when it comes to Russia. The post Vladimir Putin blasts western hypocrisy while standing next to Angela Merkel appeared first on The Duran.

*Hans Binnendijk, David Gompert* *Secuirty, * NATO could help protect its interests and stabilize this region without overcommitting itself. The U.S. missile strike on the air base from which the regime of President Bashar Assad conducted a chemical-weapons attack on Syrian civilians has prompted debate about U.S. strategy in the region. The Trump Administration has said that Assad must go, but that may take considerable time and faces Russian opposition. Given growing Islamic State losses in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, there is a pressing need and a golden opportunity for a strategy...more »

*Dan Goure* *Security, * The Marine Corps ACV program is an example of smart procurement. The U.S. Marine Corps’ plan to replace its aging fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV7) is about to take a major step forward. By the end of June, the two teams vying for the contract to build the first of a series of increasingly sophisticated Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) will each provide the Marine Corps with 16 prototypes of their proposed solution for testing. The current plan is to release a final request for proposal by the end of the year and award a contract for the first ...more »

*TNI Staff* *Security, Americas* Announcing an exciting new initiative with the John Quincy Adams Society. *The National Interest* (TNI) and the *John Quincy Adams Society* (JQA) are excited to announce a new collegiate essay contest on U.S. foreign policy. Undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students who will be attending institutions in the United States in the Fall 2017 semester are welcome to participate. The winning essays will run on TNI’s website and be promoted on social media by both TNI and JQA. Prizes are as follows: • First prize: $1000, essay featured on TNI, two...more »

*Sebastien Roblin* *Security, Asia* She might be old, but America's enemies still fear the B-52. *Enough with missiles, let’s talk about one last application of the B-52: it’s serves as a highly visible means to make a show of force. Aircraft remain one of the more vulnerable ways to deploy a nuclear weapon when compared to ballistic missiles launched from submerged submarines or silos deep underground in the United States. But the latter two systems are hard to show off, whereas you can deploy a B-52 closer to a crisis zone, and have it perform overflights to send a clear threa...more »

*Ryan Pickrell* *Security, Asia* Some observers suspect that the KN-17 may be a “carrier killer,” but the exact purpose of the missile is unclear. North Korea’s latest missile test may have been more than just another failure. U.S. Pacific Command reported that the ballistic missile, which has yet to be identified, “did not leave North Korean territory.” The weapon reportedly broke up over North Korea several minutes after launch, but it may not have been a botch. Saturday’s missile failure may have been a deliberate explosion, South Korean government officials told the Korea T...more »

According to much of the media today, the leading story is Labour Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott ‘losing it’ live on-air. But there are two very good reasons why voters need to avoid this distraction. Labour’s plan The first reason is the policy. Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was talking about Labour’s fully-costed plan to put […] The post The media attack on Labour today makes complete sense. Because otherwise, we’d be talking about this… appeared first on The Canary.

Theresa May is one of the most advanced robots the world. Not only is she capable of repeating over three different slogans, she can also stand in place and scowl for five minutes at a time. Although this failed to compute today. As an interview with the robot went fantastically faulty. BEEP-BOOP Tory scientists adapted […] The post Theresa May-Bot malfunctions live on air appeared first on The Canary.

Theresa May visited Cornwall on 2 May 2017. But not only did she hide from local people, she also hid from the local press. And while her attempts to control the press would make any dictator proud, her strategy backfired. Spectacularly. Where’s Theresa? Theresa May is facing a massive battle in Cornwall. Tory MPs are defending […] The post A local newspaper has humiliated Theresa May after she tried to silence the media [IMAGES] appeared first on The Canary.

[image: undefined] Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross spoke this week at the Milken Global Conference in Beverley Hills. He recalled the scene at Mar-a-Lago on April 6, when the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was interrupted by the strike on Syria. “Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria,” Ross said. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.” As the conference attendees laughed, Ross added: “The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have th...more »

[image: undefined] Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross spoke this week at the Milken Global Conference in Beverley Hills. He recalled the scene at Mar-a-Lago on April 6, when the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was interrupted by the strike on Syria. “Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria,” Ross said. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.” As the conference attendees laughed, Ross added: “The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have th...more »

[image: undefined] Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross spoke this week at the Milken Global Conference in Beverley Hills. He recalled the scene at Mar-a-Lago on April 6, when the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was interrupted by the strike on Syria. “Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria,” Ross said. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.” As the conference attendees laughed, Ross added: “The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have th...more »

[image: undefined] Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross spoke this week at the Milken Global Conference in Beverley Hills. He recalled the scene at Mar-a-Lago on April 6, when the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was interrupted by the strike on Syria. “Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria,” Ross said. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.” As the conference attendees laughed, Ross added: “The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have th...more »

*MONDAY, MAY 2, 2017Part 2—And a peek at a low-IQ culture:* On March 2, the New York Times described a fun new approach the paper would be taking. (For fuller background, see yesterday's report.) The paper said it was introducing "a reimagined presentation of its A2 and A3 print pages." Starting that day, those pages would be "a place where readers will find interesting, useful and fun information about what The Times is doing not only with its core news report, but throughout the entire organization." The Times' description was fuzzy but intriguing! The reimagined pages wouldn'...more »

*Daily Mail*: *China demands an 'immediate' halt to Trump's controversial US anti-missile system set up on a South Korean golf course after Seoul said it can now defend against Kim's missiles* * Geng Shuang, China's foreign spokesman, launched attack on THAAD system * Said Beijing will 'take necessary measures' to defend against the missile battery * China fears the weapon's powerful radar will be used to spy on their military * Mr Geng's comments came just hours after the battery became operational China has demanded an 'immediate' halt to the deployment of a controversial US m...more »

*Sputnik*: *Russian President Putin, German Chancellor Merkel Hold Joint Presser in Sochi* Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hold a joint press conference between two rounds of meetings in Sochi on Tuesday, May 2. Russian President Putin started the presser by announcing that he had discussed with German Chancellor Merkel the preparation for G20 summit as well as Syria and Ukraine. "We discussed international problems, including the Syrian crisis and the situation in Ukraine," Putin said, adding that the meeting also touched upon preparations f...more »

Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about a science book, Don't know much about the french I tookCourtesy of The Hill: *President Trump during an interview that airs Monday questioned why the country had a Civil War and suggested former President Andrew Jackson could have prevented it had he served later. * *"I mean had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later you wouldn't have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart," Trump said during an interview with the Washington Examiner's Salena Zito. * *"He was really angry that ...more »

The Iraqi forces (ISF) opened a new front in the Battle of Mosul. Over the weekend the Golden Division and Rapid Reaction Division (RRD) shifted forces from the center and east sections of west Mosul to the Badush district to the northwest of the city. On May 1, the RRD attackedthe Haramat and July 17 neighborhoods from this new position. The Golden Division was still fightingover Zinjali, while the Federal Police were battling in Bab al-Jadid and Bab al-Baid in the Old City. The new operation fits in with the overall campaign plan for the police to hold down Islamic State fighter...more »

*BBC:** Russia Germany: Merkel meets Putin to discuss crises in Syria and Ukraine* German Chancellor Angela Merkel has begun talks with President Vladimir Putin on her first visit to Russia since 2015. The meeting, at Mr Putin's summer residence in Sochi, comes with bilateral relations in a trough over the war in Syria and Russia's annexation of Crimea. They are to discuss both issues but no breakthroughs are expected. Mr Putin will then meet Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday. "Of course, we cannot but take advantage of this visit and discuss bilateral relations a...more »

I keep hearing that it's only a matter of time before Donald Trump's fellow Republicans cut him loose, at which point he'll resign, be impeached, or be compelled to surrender the presidency under provisions of the 25th Amendment. This cheery scenario overlooks the fact that Republicans target other Republicans only when those Republicans forget the Prime Directive, which is never to stop denigrating and enraging liberals and putatively liberal institutions like the media (while, of course, putting more money in the pockets of the rich). Trump is still attacking us and pissing us off...more »

Link Syrians are furious after pictures showing American tanks and military vehicles driving through Kurdish territory *(??? not Kurdish territory)* in the north of the country were posted this weekend. Angry online commenters are calling it an* “American occupation.”* Social media users shared images and video of tanks flying American flags driving the streets Qamishli, *a Kurdish-majority town** (??? questionable)* in the north of Syria, and being cheered by local citizens. *Notice all the white Toyota's in possession of the PKK/YPG militias?* *Same as ISIS. Same as British...more »

[image: putin erdogan sitting] It will be his first meeting with Putin since winning the Presidential powers referendum on the 16th of April. The post Turkish President Erdogan to meet with Russian President Putin tomorrow appeared first on The Duran.

Theresa May has been left embarrassed by reports of a disastrous meeting with the European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker. A meeting in which she attempted once more to insist that trade talks could take place alongside Article 50 negotiations. This meeting led to Juncker allegedly telling the German Chancellor Angela Merkel that May was “deluded” […] The post The latest Tory calamity has made our Brexit Secretary the laughing stock of Europe appeared first on The Canary.

Theresa May’s ‘strong and stable’ mantra has come back to bite her firmly in the arse, thanks to cheeky members of the public. Internet users discovered a cardboard cutout of the Prime Minister on Amazon, and used the review section to create some mischief. Not strong or stable, actually Bizarrely, you can actually buy a cardboard […] The post Theresa May’s election slogan has come back to bite her right in the arse [IMAGES] appeared first on The Canary.

By all accounts, Theresa May did not have the best of bank holiday weekends. Because, aside from some less than impressive TV interviews, her attempts to meet the public on their doorsteps didn’t go according to plan. And sadly for the Prime Minister, Sky News caught it on film. Hello! Anyone home? May was out door-knocking in […] The post Theresa May goes door-knocking in Scotland, and it’s even more awkward than you’d expect [VIDEO] appeared first on The Canary.

By Paul Homewood http://merionwest.com/2017/04/25/richard-lindzen-thoughts-on-the-public-discourse-over-climate-change/ Richard Lindzen has written a powerful article about the state of climate science. His introduction sets the scene: Introduction: For over 30 years, I have been giving talks on the science of climate change. When, however, I speak to a non-expert audience, and attempt to explain such matters […]

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (4: 35 P.M.) – Several jihadi rebels have been killed and wounded when the Syrian Army hit their fortifications in northern Latakia countryside with tanks. A military source said that Army troops in Qala’at Shallaf spotted a bunch of militants digging trenches in Tardin hilltop in what might be a preparation for potential […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

SANA’A, YEMEN (3:55 P.M.) – Yemeni ‘Ansar Allah’ movement, more known as Houthis – by the name of their founder, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi – published a video footage taken in Najran region of Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border. The video shows Houthi sniper taking out two pro-Saudi fighters with a single shot: The incident […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (3:30 P.M.) – A new batch of Syrian soldiers has concluded a training course – in Homs Province – conducted by Russian military advisors on demining operations. The troops were trained how to effectively discover explosives and demining them in order to cleanse the areas liberated by the Syrian Army. The Syrian government […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has described the cruise missile attack on Syria “after-dinner entertainment” for guests dining at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on 6 April, when the president decided to launch the strike. Ross, speaking at an economics conference in California on Monday, recounted the scene at the Florida estate when Trump interrupted dessert […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:00 P.M.) – More than 100 militants and their families left the village of Sibna in west Damascus, today, for the town of Al-Rahibah, local activists reported. Buses provided by the government reportedly moved these 100 militants and their families from Sibna around 11:00 A.M. (Damascus Time); they have now arrived in Al-Rahibah, […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:55 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) reportedly killed the top Islamic State emir of the Al-Rusafa District in Deir Ezzor City this week, local activists claimed on Tuesday. Hassaan ‘Abdel-Hamid Al-Malaa ‘Ali (AKA “Abu Yousif Al-Ansari”) was killed while clashing with the Syrian Arab Army near the contested Al-Rusafa in the […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

The US State Department is warning Americans that traveling to Europe risks being caught in a terrorist attack. The ‘Travel Alert’ is set to remain in place for the next four months. An official statement referred to recent attacks by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al Qaeda, as well as their affiliates, against France, […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

(TASS) Military experts from Russia and Turkey are holding a meeting on Syria in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana. Trilateral consultations of countries-guarantors of the ceasefire (Russia, Turkey and Iran) will be held later in the day. The discussions take place in the run-up to the talks on Syria on May 3-4 in Astana. The new round […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:50 P.M.) – A high ranking commander from Faylaq Al-Rahman was reportedly killed inside the East Ghouta town of Zamalka this morning after a short battle with Jaysh Al-Islam militants. Abu Najib, the Faylaq Al-Rahman commander, was identified by East Ghouta activists as the dead leader of this Islamist group in rural Damascus. […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

*Ryan Pickrell* *Security, Asia* Could it happen? U.S. bombers, escorted by South Korean fighters, flew near the Korean Peninsula Monday, according to American military officials. Two B-1B Lancers flew out of Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The bombers conducted “bilateral training missions with their counterparts from the Republic of Korea and Japanese air forces,” Lt. Col. Lori Hodge, Pacific Air Forces public affairs deputy director, told reporters, according to DOD Buzz. It is unclear how close the bombers were to the demilitarized zone, the divide between North and South...more »

PHOTO: North Korea said US planes had conducted "a nuclear bomb-dropping drill". (Reuters: Cedric H.Rudisill/USAF/Handout, file) *ABC News Online*: *North Korea says US bomber flights signal pre-emptive nuclear strike* North Korea is accusing the United States of pushing the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war after a pair of strategic US bombers flew over the area in a training drill with the South Korean air force. The two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed amid rising tensions over North Korea's dogged pursuit of its nuclear and missile programs in defiance o...more »

This video quite warms the cockles of my heart - https://youtu.be/vcpM1VH2LCY Diane Abbott squirming in embarrassment, wonderful. Well done to the BBC for following that line of questioning. However even the BBC, which usually acts as though it's the media arm of the Labour Party, could see quite how embarrassing Diane Abbott's interview was. In the Daily Politics interview Diane Abbott said, at least twice, that she got the figures correct in the other six interviews she did on the same morning. I presume that the Labour Party will happily provide the names of the organisation...more »

Blue America's newest endorsed candidate, Jenny Marshall, who's running for the North Carolina seat occupied by Virginia Foxx, has worked on dozens of political campaigns over the years. But this last election cycle she saw the need to be more involved in the process. Here’s a snapshot of her recent accomplishments, accomplishments that attracted Blue America's attention: She helped establish an all-volunteer-run office for Bernie Sanders’ campaign in Winston-Salem. After the North Carolina primary, the office was moved to a new location to continue operating a phone bank for the ...more »

A mortar tube accidentally explodes during an Afghan National Army live-fire training exercise in Laghman province Afghanistan, July 2, 2013. The blast killed Army Spc. Hilda Clayton and four Afghan soldiers (Army Spc. Hilda Clayton, U.S. Army) *Military.com/Stars and Stripes:* *Army Releases Images of Photographer's Final Moments Before Blast* OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea -- The Army has released the final images taken by combat photographer Spc. Hilda Clayton moments before she died during a live-fire training accident in Afghanistan nearly four years ago. The photos, which have b...more »

Went to Larisa court today and learned a prosecutor has, in the meantime, been assigned to my case, a hopeful sign. My case is unique perhaps in as far as there is a direct paper trail linking George Soros and Alexis Tsipras to the murder attempt made against me in 2014 on account of my […]

Donald Trump launched a missile strike against Syria, and nearly started World War Three with Russia, because he had no other after dinner entertainment, his Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said. Ross sat beside Trump in the ad hoc situation room in Trump’s private club in Florida and oversaw the strike, giving his comments weight. […]

*Repeal and replace universities* The political left has made a complete pig's breakfast of our educational system. Political intolerance is now the official policy at colleges and universities across the United States with violence or the threat thereof as the means of enforcing extreme leftist orthodoxy. In February, a proposed speech by former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos precipitated riots at the University of California Berkeley as protesters smashed ATMs and bank windows, looted a Starbucks, beat Trump supporters, pepper-sprayed innocent individuals, and set fires in t...more »

More than three years ago, the Czech social democracy won the elections ahead of the populist billionaire Andrej Babiš's "ANO" (="YES", an acronym for "Alliance of the Pissed-off Citizens") – it was almost a tie. A calm, uncharismatic leader of the social democrats, Mr Sobotka, a life-long politician, became the prime minister because the ANO's result was just slightly worse than that of the social democrats. But it has been generally understood that the "de facto prime minister" was the somewhat charismatic, aggressive billionaire Andrej Babiš, the finance minister. This wasn't th...more »

With the Trump Administration boosting spending on defense and cutting spending on other discretionary line items and the fact that Washington has once again hit the latest debt ceiling, a recent poll by Morning Consult and Politicoprovides us with an interesting snapshot of where American taxpayers want their hard-earned dollars spent. The poll was conducted on March 16 to 19, 2017 with a national sample of 1927 registered voters and the results were weighted to correct for race/ethnicity, gender, educational level and region. Let's open with this question to give us a sense of wh...more »

*[image: Health care activists outside the Massachusetts State House on the April 8th National Day of Action for Medicare for All. This was one of many events held across the country. (Photo: Dave Madeloni)]* *Single-Payer Health Care Is Seeing Record Support in Congress * *Sunday, April 16, 2017 By Michael Corcoran, Truthout | Report * * http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/40234-single-payer-health-care-is-seeing-record-support-in-congress* *Health care activists outside the Massachusetts State House on the April 8th National Day of Action for Medicare for All. This was one of many e...more »

Strategic bombing soon runs out of meaningful military targets. Then you start blowing up homes. That certainly happened throughout WWII and continued through Korea and Vietnam. A huge contributor to this mindset was the fact that none of these bombs could be targeted. Thus the first defense of the military was to cosy up to the population in order to make the price high in the minds of the bombers. Even when that did not happen a random AA gun demanded a lot of bombs in order to be eliminated. So everyone did the obvious and bombed large urban concentrations. ...more »

I do think that most die so quickly because of shock. Overcoming that and practice clearly allows a longer span in the water and ten minutes is clearly excellent. Now the interesting question is whether we can do a lot better. The reason i ask that is that plenty of animals do operate at this temperature and yes we do have a fat layer fairly adapted to cooler waters at least. I suspect that our circulatory system needs to switch over to maintaining internal temperatures while allowing the fat layer to chill down. That should be good for a lot of cold water ability. Does thi...more »

This image could not possibly be better. What we have is clearly constructed objects been moved using gravity control. The lights appear to be impulse engines used to do the moving, sort of like tug boats. Did someone make all this up?All this conforms completely to conjectured secret US Space Fleet operations and looks to be part of Space Station. As posted in the past, we now likely have several operational low orbit space ships that are robust in size. Patents actually issued a decade ago. I kid you not.Here we actually get to see operations underway that really could not ...more »

Chris Hedges believes that, when a civilization crumbles, the idiots assume positions of responsibility. He writes: The idiots take over in the final days of crumbling civilizations. Idiot generals wage endless, unwinnable wars that bankrupt the nation. Idiot economists call for reducing taxes for the rich and cutting social service programs for the poor, and project economic growth on the basis of myth. Idiot industrialists poison the water, the soil and the air, slash jobs and depress wages. Idiot bankers gamble on self-created financial bubbles and impose crippling debt peonage...more »

By Paul Homewood h/t Dave Ward A rally in Colorado Springs designed to warn people of the effects of climate change and global warming was postponed this weekend after a snowstorm made it too risky to proceed. The event, organized by local environmentalist group 350 Colorado Springs, was also a protest against the […]

From Jenna Orkin US national security adviser says 'be prepared for military action against North Korea' Iranian TV CEO Assassinated In Istanbul Japan has dispatched a destroyer to reportedly join US ships amid tension with North Korea Trump says perhaps China, not Russia could have hacked Democratic emails One of Trump's most controversial advisers is reportedly out of the White House Three women have been arrested in London in connection to a thwarted terror plot How our universe will end: 'The black holes will eat up everything' How crystal meth helped the Nazis conquer l...more »

*Dave Majumdar* *Security, Europe* The key to the Meteor’s range is its ramjet propulsion. The British Royal Air Force’s (RAF) potent Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter is about to receive a powerful new weapon—the long-range Meteor air-to-air missile. The new ramjet-powered radar-guided missile is by most measures the single most capable air intercept weapon in the NATO arsenal. “Our squadron is going to be the lead squadron for the integration of Meteor,” Wing Commander Chris Hoyle, commanding officer of the RAF’s 1(Fighter) Squadron told me during Exercise Atlantic Trident ...more »

*Chris Douglas* *Security, Asia* North Korea already has a system capable of delivering nuclear weapons anywhere—it’s just not rocket powered. The United States has announced that it’s reserving the option of military force to prevent North Korea acquiring the means to deliver a nuclear warhead using a long range ballistic missile. It’s time to check our thinking about what North Korea’s counterattack response might be. Not all of the DPRK’s potential responses, nor their potential impacts, are being discussed. Current assessments of North Korea’s ability to attack the US are ba...more »

[image: student-s-grade-lowered-for-using-word-man] Man, oh man, when will we man-up and say no to political correctness? It certainly won’t happen soon enough for a University of Florida student just penalized for using the word “man” in an essay.

*Statistica:* *This Is The Worst Year For North Korean Missile Test Success In 33 Years* As tensions between the United States and North Korea continue to grow, President Trump has warned "major, major conflict" between the two countries is possible. He added that he would prefer to solve the situation through diplomacy before praising Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling him "a very good man" who loves his country. The outbreak of hostilities could prove devastating for the South Korean capital, Seoul, which is targeted by thousands of artillery pieces dug in just over the borde...more »

Yonhap News Agency *Reuters:* *North Korea says U.S. bomber flights push peninsula to brink of nuclear war* North Korea accused the United States on Tuesday of pushing the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war after a pair of strategic U.S. bombers flew over the area in a training drill with the South Korean air force. The two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed amid rising tensions over North Korea's dogged pursuit of its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of United Nations sanctions and pressure from the United States. The flight of the two bombers on Mond...more »

*I was asked to do an interview by written exchange. It consists of five questions about a meeting that my former Arizona Senator John McCain had last month with the leader of the terrorist group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK). The same terrorists that killed American military and civilian personnel in pre-revolution Iran was touted by the warmongering McCain as courageous freedom fighters. It’s an outrage that this treasonous senator makes trips to Albania to pay homage to terrorists and accepts awards from terrorist leaders, groups this traitor’s been in bed with, meeting on a regular...more »

*BBC*: *US anti-missile system 'operational' in South Korea* The US military says its controversial Thaad missile defence system is "operational" in South Korea. A spokesman said the system was now able to intercept North Korean missiles and defend the South. But officials have told reporters that full operational capability is still some months away. Tensions have been rising around the Korean peninsula, with repeated threats from North Korea and the presence of a group of US warships and a submarine. On Monday, two US bombers took part in a joint drill with South Korea's air ...more »

*Tanzih train station. Every one of those scooters is parked illegally because no parking spaces were designed under the station. LOL.* I would be writing on the KMT chairmanship election, due up in a couple of weeks, but... it's boring at the moment. Fortunately, Kate Hart and Tim Rich have produced a piece on Tsai's first year. President Tsai’s Scorecard, One Year On. Hart and Rich analyzed the findings of an NCCU poll, concluding.... Although the usual suspects in influencing perceptions of presidents in Taiwan remain influential, our findings suggest greater attention should be...more »

Richard Saunders is a wonderful man whom I have never met, sadly. He also produces wonderful books, his excellent guide to the islands of Taiwan is $5.99 on Kindle. A few months ago he sent me his Taiwan 101 guidebooks for experiencing Taiwan. I put them on my desk, and because no one can out-procrastinate me, there they sat, with me looking at them when I was home thinking "Hmmm, really gotta put them on my blog." Well, here I am, putting them on my blog. But because I am not only a champion procrastinator but also terminally lazy, I direct the reader to Dana Yuli Ter's great re...more »

*1. Focus* Being able to focus at the task you're undertaking is critical to success. I am trying to focus on writing again. (groan if you must) and on reformatting, *The Black Scorpions* - for Amazon, to make them happy enough that they'll take it live again -- and on getting the next story out. I'm under no illusion that the new work will sell, but that's how it goes. The key to all of this is focusing on ten things at once and on trying to get them all right. *2. General Update* *Changes in Japan's Military Posture* Government sources said on 30 April that Maritime Self Defe...more »

By Nancy Hokkanen Age of Autism Editor-at-Large Mark Blaxill spoke at a Minnesota community meeting April 30 about that state’s measles outbreak, vaccines, vaccine injury and exemption rights. About 90 members of the Twin Cities’ Somali community attended the event....

By Dan Burns (read the full Saving Zero series as we are running it here.) We see a closed door with a sign, “NEUROTHERAPY – PRIVATE.” The door swings open and we see ZERO lying back in the neurotherapy lounge...

*Streamed live on April 27, 2017* Wikileaks Founder and Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange joins the Liberty Report to discuss the latest push by the Trump Administration to bring charges against him and his organization for publishing US Government documents. How will they get around the First Amendment and the Espionage Act? The US government and the mainstream media -- some of which gladly publish Wikileaks documents -- are pushing to demonize Assange in the court of public opinion. Wikileaks is registered as a 501(c)3 organization in the US. Find out more about the organization an...more »

*VOA:* *State Department Issues Europe Travel Alert* The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert for what it called the "continued threat of terrorist attacks throughout Europe." The alert, which expires September 1, cites recent incidents in France, Russia, Sweden and Britain that the State Department says show the ability of Islamic state, al-Qaida or others to carry out attacks. "U.S. citizens should always be alert to the possibility that terrorist sympathizers or self-radicalized extremists may conduct attacks with little or no warning," the alert says. It further st...more »

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:55 A.M.) – Hundreds of soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) arrived in the Palmyra countryside yesterday, a military told Al-Masdar News this morning. The soldiers were reportedly deployed from the coastal provinces of Tartous and Latakia to the Palmyra front, where they are expected to aid the 5th Legion in a […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:50 A.M.) – Minutes ago, the Islamic State’s (ISIL) official media wing claimed that more than 30 Iraqi government troops were killed by a twin suicide attack in east Samarra. According to Al-‘Amaq’s claim, the 30+ Iraqi government troops were killed after two suicide bombers struck the police headquarters east of Samarra this […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:40 A.M.) – More than 100 militants and their families left the village of Sibna in west Damascus, today, for the town of Al-Rahibah, local activists reported. Buses provided by the government reportedly moved these 100 militants and their families from Sibna around 11:00 A.M. (Damascus Time); they are expected to reach their […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:30 A.M.) – Human Rights Watch accused the Syrian military on Monday of using chemical weapons in four recent attacks, including the early April sarin gas attack on the southern Idlib town of Khan Sheikhoun. According to the statement released by Kenneth Roth of the Human Rights Watch, the Syrian military showed a […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

Kazakhstan said on Tuesday that the delegation of the Syrian armed opposition has confirmed its participation in Astana talks on Syria settlement. The delegation will be headed by the leader of the so-called “Jaish al-Islam” group, Mohamed Alloush, Head of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry press service Anuar Janakova said. “All participants of the international meeting […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

(TASS) The United Nations, the United States and Jordan have confirmed that their representatives will participate in the Astana international meeting on Syria as observers, Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi said on Tuesday. “Observers will remain the same,” he said. “A high-level delegation from the United Nations will come, as UN Special Envoy […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:50 A.M.) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has liberated a large chunk of Tabaqa in the last 48 hours, forcing the Islamic State (ISIL) militants to withdraw from several parts of this city in western Al-Raqqa. Backed by U.S. Coalition airstrikes, the Syrian Democratic Forces have captured most of Tabaqa’s northern […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:40 A.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) resumed their offensive in the northern countryside of Palmyra last night, targeting the hilltops the Islamic State (ISIL) managed to capture near the Shumriyah Mountains. Led by the 5th Legion, the Syrian Arab Army struck the Islamic State’s defenses near the Shumriyah Mountains last night, […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

[image: Mainstream media is falling apart, and this weekend exposed the bleeding rapture] The White House Correspondents Association dinner exposed anew how far from Middle America our elite media reside. The post Mainstream media is falling apart, and this weekend exposed the bleeding rapture appeared first on The Duran.

[image: MUST WATCH: Man waves American flag at Cuban May Day celebration] This certainly isn't something you see every day. The post MUST WATCH: Man waves American flag in Cuba, gets clobbered appeared first on The Duran.

[image: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the test-fire of a strategic submarine underwater ballistic missile (not pictured), in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on May 9, 2015. REUTERS/KCNA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THI...more »

[image: Palestinian supporters of the Islamist movement Hamas wave their flag and a pre-Baath Syrian flag (C) during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Hebron on November 21, 2012, against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israel launched its offensive on November 14 with the targeted killing of a Hamas military chief. Since then, 147 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed. AFP PHOTO/HAZEM BADER (Photo credit should read HAZEM BADER/AFP/Getty Images)] Hamas has engaged in a war of aggression against Syria. The post Here’s why Hamas is still a ...more »

[image: trump call] A variety of international hot spots are likely to be discussed in only the second official call between Putin and Trump The post Kremlin: Trump and Putin scheduled to speak today by phone appeared first on The Duran.

Over the decades, the concept of peer review has changed dramatically – so what does the future hold? That’s a question examined in a new report issued today by BioMed Central and Digital Science, based on discussions held during the SpotOn London conference. (Disclosure: Our co-founder Ivan Oransky spoke there.) We spoke with Elizabeth Moylan, Senior […] The post Peer review in 2030: New report hopes it’s faster, more transparent, and more diverse appeared first on Retraction Watch.

A combination of file photos showing Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, January 15, 2016 and U.S. President Donald Trump posing for a photo in New York City, U.S., May 17, 2016. REUTERS/Ivan Sekretarev/Pool/Lucas Jackson/File Photos *CNN*: *Trump to speak with Putin on Tuesday* Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump is set to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, their first call since Russia denounced a US military strike against Syria last month. Trump and Putin will talk Tuesday afternoon, a Wh...more »

The U.S. Capitol Dome is seen before dawn in Washington. REUTERS/Gary Cameron/Files *Washington Post*: *Democrats confident they can block Trump’s agenda after spending-bill win* Democrats think they have set the stage to block President Trump’s legislative priorities for years to come by winning major concessions in a spending bill to keep the government open. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) secured nearly $5 billion in new domestic spending by exploiting disagreements between Trump and GOP lawmakers over spend...more »

*Maxwell Knight.* Maxwell Knight was a real British spy. So, naturally, he liked young boys, was a Satanist, and worked alongside the Kosher Nostra. At age 14, Maxwell Knight was in the navy, as a cadet on the training-ship Worcester. Having left the navy, in 1919, Maxwell Knight was employed as a prep school master, looking after young boys. In the early 1920s, Maxwell Knight became the intelligence director for the British fascists. And then he was recruited into MI5. His office was in London's Dolphin Square, a hotbed of boy sexual activity. *Lord Victor Rothschild.* Victo...more »

Originally posted on Watts Up With That?: Guest post by David Middleton […] The thaw is happening far faster than once expected. Over the past three decades the area of sea ice in the Arctic has fallen by more than half and its volume has plummeted by three-quarters (see map). SWIPA estimates that the Arctic…

Originally posted on Science Matters: ? Foucault’s pendulum in the Panthéon, Paris h/t tom0mason for inspiring this post, including his comment below The Pendulum is Settled Science I attended North Phoenix High School (Go Mustangs!) where students took their required physics class from a wild and crazy guy. Decades later alumni who don’t remember his…

Originally posted on Watts Up With That?: Guest essay by Eric Worrall h/t Breitbart – The People’s Climate March rally in Colorado Springs, scheduled for April 29th, was postponed due to heavy snowfall and treacherous conditions. Winter Blast Putting Climate Protests On Ice In Colorado … Organized by groups seeking to ban the production of…

by Richard Lindzen, 25 April 2017 from: http://merionwest.com/2017/04/25/richard-lindzen-thoughts-on-the-public-discourse-over-climate-change/ MIT atmospheric science professor Richard Lindzen suggests that many claims regarding climate change are exaggerated and unnecessarily alarmist. Introduction: For over 30 years, I have been giving talks on the science of climate change. When, however, I speak to a non-expert audience, and attempt to explain such matters […]

The expectation of the Illuminati is that monotheistic religions ie. mainly Islam and Christianity will receive a tremendous shock upon the revelation of “Aliens”. It will lead to their destruction according to the Illuminist plan. There will be a great falling away from Christianity. – These “Aliens” which are coming are NOT Aliens but are […]

Published on Apr 30, 2017 The NATO Secretary General says the alliance is planning to boost its troop presence in Afghanistan. Jens Stoltenberg cited the challenging security situation in the country for the additional deployment. He added that the alliance also plans to increase its role in the fight against terrorism by training local forces. […]

Published on Apr 27, 2017 “Abu Mazen, we are a part of Palestine, have empathy for us.” That was the message of a Palestinian in Gaza, as the Palestinian Authority, run by Mahmoud Abbas has stopped paying for electricity to be used by Gaza, thus allowing for a shutdown of the territory’s limited power supplies. […]

Published on Apr 28, 2017 A severe power crisis has paralyzed the Gaza Strip’s wastewater treatment facilities. The International Committee of the Red Cross is now warning of grave environmental consequences if untreated wastewater is discharged into the sea. Press TV’s Halla Alsafadi has a report. end

Will the Next War Erupt in the Balkans? by Justin Raimondo, April 26, 2017, http://antiwar.com/ As the world focuses on the Middle Eastern and Korean flashpoints, the next war may not occur in either region, but rather in a replay of an old conflict that has been largely forgotten. – In an interview with Politico’s European edition, […]

Published on Apr 30, 2017 Islamists have been caught launching false flag attacks with chemical weapons, but the mainstream media and Trump immediately believed Assad was responsible for the latest attack. end

Image: Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Robert J. Horstman. *Clive Irving, Daily Beast*: *The Air Force Plans to Fly 100-Year-Old Planes* *Behind the front-line warplanes is a fleet of aging jets, including one designed over a single weekend in a hotel room during the Cold War.* Since we have an administration with a proclivity to drop bombs, very big bombs, this seems like a good time to talk about bombs, and how they are dropped. The United States Air Force has a lot of bombs, of many kinds. On the face of it, they are a modern force, conveying fearsome powe...more »

A new report says that the most selective colleges should make sure at least 20 percent of their students are Pell Grant recipients in order to give low-income students a better shot at graduation and boost campus socioeconomic diversity.

PITTSBURGH — Duquesne University in Pittsburgh has made former Superior Court Judge Maureen Lally-Green its first female law school dean. Lally-Green has been interim dean of Duquesne’s School of Law since July. The school says Monday that she’ll become the permanent dean effective July 1. Lally-Green was appointed a Superior Court judge in 1998 by […]

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Hundreds of students boycotted classes at St. Olaf College in southern Minnesota on Monday, instead packing an administration building to protest a rash of racist and threatening messages left around campus at the private, Lutheran liberal arts college. One Black student, Samantha Wells, found an anonymous note on her car windshield Saturday […]

*9/11: A Nuclear Event* *"A Nuclear Field Experiment"* *h/t "Windows On The World"* Sixteen years have passed since the events of September 11, 2001. The truth about what happened on that day has come out in bursts, like the squibs of nanothermite that took the WTC towers down. Over the years it has been "boom, boom boom"....an explosion of truth...then a few years for it to be absorbed by those with the capacity for critical thinking....then silence...then another boom. I would call the video above a very loud boom in this sequence. Heinz Pommer, with his appropriately "Strang...more »

BEIRUT, LEBANON (5:45 A.M.) – Women living in Haji Ali, a village in northern Iraq located 60 kilometres (37,2 miles) south from Mosul, have taken up arms to protect the area from self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) militants, as seen in footage filmed on Monday. Since the IS controlled-villages are only two kilometres (1.24 […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:25 A.M.) – The jihadist rebels of Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham are in serious trouble, as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and their allies continue to advance inside the eastern pocket of Damascus. Led by the 42nd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division and 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard, […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (5:30 A.M.) – Moscow is ready to cooperate with Washington on Syria, Russian Foreign Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday at a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al-Safadi. “We have many times heard His Majesty King of Jordan Abdullah II say that interaction between Russia and the United States was vital for ensuring […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

BEIRUT, LEBANON (5:00 A.M.) – A large number of Islamic State (ISIL) terrorists were killed on Monday, following their failed offensive to recapture the Shumariyah Mountains in northeast Homs. ISIL began their offensive by storming the Syrian Arab Army’s defenses at the northern axis of the Shumariyah Mountains; this would result in a fierce battle […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

National flags of U.S. and China wave in front of an international hotel in Beijing February 4, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Lee *Timothy R. Heath & William R. Thompson, National Interest:* *U.S.-China Tensions Are Unlikely to Lead to War* *Washington and Beijing are wary competitors, but neither country regards the other as its principal enemy.* Graham Allison's April 12 article, “How America and China Could Stumble to War,” explores how misperceptions and bureaucratic dysfunction could accelerate a militarized crisis involving the United States and China into an unwanted war. However, th...more »

*Trump’s Banksters and the Rollback of Dodd-Frank* Donald Trump has ordered a rollback of regulations over Wall Street, including the Dodd-Frank Act, passed in 2010 to prevent another too-big-to-fail banking crisis. Perhaps Trump thinks that we’ve forgotten what happened when Wall Street turned the economy into a giant casino, and then – when its bets went sour in 2008 – needed a giant taxpayer funded bailout. Maybe Trump thinks Americans forget losing their jobs, homes, and savings in the fallout. Many people who voted for Trump got shafted. I hope they haven’t forgotten that ...more »

Marine Le Pen AP Photo/Claude Paris) On May 7, France will choose its next president. In the first round of voting on April 23, voters rejected candidates from the country’s established parties, lifting former investment banker Emmanuel Macron and nationalist Marine Le Pen to the runoff. The vote capped a swift rise for Le Pen’s National Front party, whose anti-immigrant views had long interfered with its general success. The fringe seems to have become the mainstream. A political radical has become a possible president. Yet Le Pen’s popularity is hardly an outlier. Events like B...more »

*Bryan Harris & Robin Harding, Financial Times*: *North Korea’s Nuclear Push Masks Army Coming Apart at Seams* When North Korea deployed hundreds of artillery units, submarines and soldiers to take part in its largest live-fire drill, it was intended as a chilling display of the reclusive regime’s military might. The country boasts the world’s fourth-largest standing army, with more than 1m troops as well as 7m reserves, and last week’s military exercise came as US President Donald Trump ramped up the pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programmes. But officials a...more »

*Papa threatened a Jewish opponent with a gas chamber, but Marine isn't as bad as THAT* Once or twice a year I get a craving for matzoh brei and I go down to Canter's on Fairfax and get one. And when I visit some off-the-beaten-path foreign place-- like Yangon or Cochin or even St. Petersburg, for example, I go visit a synagogue. That's about as Jewish as I've been since the 1960s. That said, anti-semitism infuriates me, the same way any kind of racism does. And that brings us to Ross Douthat's clueless OpEd in yesterday's *NY Times*, Is There A Case For Le Pen? Being a right-wing ...more »

Some people are concerned about the Senate's self-definition as a council of owls seeking to keep less-privileged citizens from governing in their own interests. But have they considered this might be a perfectly fair description?

Can an algorithmic method for analyzing published research help zero in on reality? Sergei25/Shutterstock.com From social to natural and applied sciences, overall scientific output has been growing worldwide – it doubles every nine years. Traditionally, researchers solve a problem by conducting new experiments. With the ever-growing body of scientific literature, though, it is becoming more common to make a discovery based on the vast number of already-published journal articles. Researchers synthesize the findings from previous studies to develop a more complete understanding of a ...more »

*Dave Boyer, Washington Times*: *Trump comment on N. Korea prompts more media alarm than Obama’s blanket pledge* In 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama said he’d meet with the leaders of North Korea or Iran without preconditions, and the media largely gave him a pass or even defended him. On Monday, President Trump said he’d meet with North Korea’s leader “under the right circumstances,” prompting a widespread tone of alarm in the press. “If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it,” Mr. Trump said of Kim Jong-un Monday...more »

Updated MAy 2nd......(Christy Clark is at it again....Today, May 1st 2017 Christy Clark blustered and I quote..."If the federal government denies our request to ban US thermal coal we will impose a $70 dollar a tonne carbon tax, making it uneconomical to ship" snip..... *Written by Grant G* If John Horgan unilaterally proposed an ill conceived retaliation trade policy on the fly during the heat of an election our mainstream media would label John Horgan as a hothead, not able to control his temper, not fit for BC's top spot....*not fit for the job of Premier*... Last week when...more »

AUSTIN, Texas — An attacker with a machete-like knife fatally stabbed one person and wounded at least three others Monday on the University of Texas campus, and authorities said a suspect was in custody. Travis County Emergency Medical Services tweeted that one person died at the scene near a gym. The others were taken to […]

Bethune-Cookman University rocketed to the forefront of conversation about commencement speakers this spring with the announcement Monday that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would headline its event in Daytona Beach, Fla., next week. “Much like Dr. Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman University, Secretary DeVos deems the importance of opportunity and hope for students to receive an exceptional […]

As the student-athlete pool becomes more diverse, the divide in racial and gender representation between student-athletes and the professionals who lead teams both on the field and off is all the more stark.

Published on May 1, 2017 Controversial former UK Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that he is going to return to UK politics, motivated by Brexit and willing to change the situation amid the debates on the terms of the exit from the EU. end

“The Doomsday Forum”: Senior Military, Nuclear Weapons Officials Convene… America’s “$1 Trillion Nuclear Weapons Plan”. Take out Russia, Iran and North Korea? by Prof Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/ This article was first published on July 8, 2016 America’s pre-emptive nuclear doctrine was firmly entrenched prior to Donald Trump’s accession to the White House. The use of nukes against […]

Petrodollar Faces Growing Threat From the East. Payments in Gold Across Asia by Andrew Brennan, Asia Times, via http://www.globalresearch.ca/ While the recent raft of Sino-Saudi trade agreements benefited Chinese soft power in protecting Xinjiang, and the Saudis by diversifying their economy, China’s slow intertwining with Saudi Arabia complements the Sino-Russian alliance. Primarily, its benefits could lead to a realistic […]

The Real Reason for Attacking North Korea by Dave Hodges, http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/ In the most extreme circumstances we have made it very clear that you can’t rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike.” – Michael Fallon, British Defense Minister BBC Today April 25, 2017 – The political whores are speaking. They are willing […]

Korea Times: “China Bracing For Emergency Situation Involving North Korea” by Tyler Durden, http://www.zerohedge.com With the North Korean situation tense after Friday’s latest failed missile attempt, the South Korea’s Korea Times reports that a Chinese town near the border with North Korea is “urgently” recruiting Korean-Chinese interpreters, “stirring speculation that China is bracing for an […]

Published on Apr 29, 2017 Jeff is interviewed by John B Wells for the Caravan to Midnight radio show. Topics include: the real fake news, Anarchapulco, Trump a carefully selected Trojan war horse, expanding and deepening the swamp, the suppression of facts to control the voting population, is the USA evil? propaganda and fear, EMP […]

from Wrench in the Gears May 2, 2017 Last week Susan Patrick of iNACOL (International Association of K12 Online Learning) and Chris Sturgis of CompetencyWorks presented “An Overview of K12 Competency-Based Education for Education Leaders and Teachers.” The webinar and slides can be accessed here. Compare the slides below and consider the gravity of our situation. The first (above) shows the reach of Competency-Based Education policies today. Only Wyoming remains untouched. The second shows the reach of those policies in 2012. The Carnegie Corporation has signed on as a sponsor of...more »

*Reuters*: *Venezuela security forces fight protesters amid May Day rallies* Security forces fired tear gas at youths throwing stones and petrol bombs on Monday as Venezuela's opposition began a second month of protests against socialist President Nicolas Maduro. With hundreds of thousands on the streets of Caracas for rival May Day marches, red-shirted supporters of Maduro also gathered downtown vowing to defend the socialists' 18-year rule of the South American oil producer. Twenty nine people have been killed and hundreds injured in unrest that began in early April against Madu...more »

*Shai Feldman* *Politics, Middle East* [image: Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Pixabay/Public domain] Donald Trump has what it takes to throw out the failed decades-old playbook. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is heading to Washington, DC this week for talks with President Donald Trump. Incredibly, despite escalating crises in the Korean Peninsula and in U.S.-Russian relations over Syria, as well as huge obstacles confronting the president’s attempts to implement his agenda on health care, immigration, the tax code and the construction of a wall along t...more »

*Dave Majumdar* *Security, * My observations from the Atlantic Trident 17 trilateral exercises. The United States Air Force’s Atlantic Trident 17 trilateral exercises in April helped to provide the British Royal Air Force (RAF) an early preview of what to expect when it starts to field operational Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighters. The Atlantic Trident 17 war games, which took place at Joint Base Langley Eustis in Virginia—the home of the USAF’s elite 1st Fighter Wing—included not only the F-35A, but also the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, the French Dassault Rafale an...more »

*Kris Osborn* *Security, * Advanced adversaries with carriers, stealth, hypersonic weapons, drones, long-range sensors and precision targeting technology presents the US military with a need to adjust doctrine to properly respond to a fast-changing threat landscape. The Army is now crafting new combat “operations” doctrine designed to better position the service for the prospect of large-scale, mechanized, force-on-force warfare against technologically advanced near-peer rivals – such as Russia or China - able to substantially challenge US military technological superiority. Ri...more »

*Samuel Rines* *Economics, Americas* [image: Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC. Flickr/Creative Commons/Tyler Merbler] Why the banking community needs to get used to the Federal Reserve's "unconventional" solutions. If the Federal Reserve’s recent rhetoric is to be believed, we are in the twilight of its Great Recession intervention. In the midst of the crisis, the Fed bought up assets in what was called an “unconventional” monetary policy maneuver. These purchases eventually exceeded $4 trillion, which is roughly a quarter of the United States’ economic output. To maint...more »

Save Liberty, Shut Down the Government by ron paul, http://ronpaulinstitute.org/ Congress ended the week by passing a continuing resolution keeping the government funded for one more week. This stopgap funding bill is designed to give Congress and the White House more time to negotiate a long-term spending bill. Passage of a long-term spending bill has been delayed […]

*Reuters*: *Hamas to soften stance on Israel, Muslim Brotherhood: Arab sources* The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will drop its longstanding call for Israel's destruction as well as its association with the Muslim Brotherhood, in a policy document to be issued on Monday, Gulf Arab sources said. Hamas's move appears aimed at improving relations with Gulf Arab states and Egypt, which label the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and mending a rift with the main Palestinian faction headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. It comes two days before Abbas is due in Washington, and days ...more »

Brothers and Sisters, The Trump administration recently fired 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria, in violation of international and U.S. law. After that, the largest non-nuclear bomb was dropped on Afghanistan, an impoverished country that has suffered enough already. Trump has been making threats towards North Korea that could initiate a nuclear war – WWIII. He says, he will not tell anyone ahead of time what he will do. It looks as if Donald Trump and company are hell-bent on destroying this planet with utter disregard for our children and grandchildren. Veterans cannot be silent ...more »

(Russia Today) Sweden’s largest Shiite mosque, which has thousands of members, has been badly damaged by a raging fire in the northern Stockholm suburb of JakobsFerg, in what police suspect was an arson attack. The fire at the Imam Ali Islamic Center appears to have started in the building’s facade Monday overnight. The blaze was […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز

Last year I was given a beehive and some bees for a birthday present. This year I’ve realised that there’s a lot more to keeping bees than I thought: the biggest problem facing me being one of simple statistics: The … Continue reading →

Nick Kristof's column in the *Times* this weekend, Lessons From 100 Days Of President Trump, reminded us that "Trump distinguishes himself in one area: incompetence" and that "Trump remains a bully and a charlatan." Kristof wrote that over his entire career he's "never known a national politician as mendacious, ill informed, bombastic and dangerous as Trump." And it gets worse as he lists a dozen grievances against Trump. Then yesterday, on CNN's *Reliable Sources*, Carl Bernstein accused Señor Trumpanzee of having "lied as no president of the United States in my lifetime has, da...more »

[image: on-nafta-trump-s-true-intentions-remain-unclear] The “Trans-Pacific Partnership” (TPP) fell almost immediately. But now, everybody is wondering what will happen next on one of the most disastrous “free-trade” schemes to be imposed on America. On the campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump's opposition to the controversial North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the globalist ideology underpinning it were made crystal clear. Among other criticism, Trump blasted NAFTA as the “worst trade deal in the history of the world.” He vowed to “rip up” the deal, too. But aft...more »

Behold the four stooges! These adorable little troublemakers arrived at our San Francisco Bay wildlife center this week. They are diving ducks called Hooded Mergansers (affectionately known as “Hoodies”). As cavity nesters, the babies instinctually look upward and have already caused shenanigans at the center, having literally leaped up at the sheet covering their pen […]

Courtesy of Raw Story: *President Donald Trump grew visibly angry and walked away from an interview with CBS News reporter John Dickerson after Dickerson pressed him for proof that former President Barack Obama had illegally wiretapped Trump Tower.* *“He was very nice to me, but after that, we’ve had some difficulties,” said Trump. “So it doesn’t matter. You know, words are less important to me than deeds, and you saw what happened with surveillance.” * *Dickerson then asked Trump for evidence that Obama had illegally wiretapped him, but Trump wouldn’t offer any — while insisting...more »

*The Telegraph:* *Riot in Paris as protesters clash with police and Front National supporters at May Day workers' march* Three riot police officers have been injured in clashes between masked protesters on the fringes of May Day marches in Paris. Scores of hooded youth threw Molotov cocktails at security forces who fired back with tear gas during the otherwise peaceful march on Monday. Police responded by firing tear gas, making four arrests of individuals for "carrying prohibited weapons". "Three officers have been injured, including one seriously due to burns from Molotov cockt...more »

As the environmental movement unfolded, Presidents courting green votes have increasingly used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to sequester large swaths of land -- and water -- from future public and private use -- all too often without the advice and consent of elected officials and citizen groups. These seizures have cost states and private citizens the use of these properties, and the revenue and enjoyment that come from such uses. President Trump's executive order is step 1 in putting a stop to these unpopular land grabs and hopefully to reopening noncritical acreage to a variety of...more »

*Douglas Birkey, FOX News*:* The North Korean threat is not theoretical, it is reality* North Korea is surging to the brink. Advancements in their missile technology and nuclear weapons program will soon put the United States in the crosshairs. As Senator John McCain recently remarked: “A North Korean missile tipped with a nuclear warhead, capable of reaching our homeland is no longer a distant hypothetical, but an imminent danger.” A policy built around angry diplomatic statements and passive observation is no longer viable. The United States must seriously anticipate the use ...more »

by Walter and Rosemary Brasch Featured Writers Dandelion Salad www.walterbrasch.com Aug 25, 2009 Forget everything you learned about Bre’er Rabbit, the brightest, most cunning of all animals in West African folklore and Joel Chandler Harris stories. Disregard what you saw Bugs Bunny, the Brooklyn–born wise-cracking Br’er Rabbit spinoff, do to mentally-lame hunter Elmer Fudd and […]

Another in the ever-popular genre of blog posts about what people eat. No photos though. I wake up and have an instant coffee with cream and 1/4 spoonful of dark brown sugar. Maybe I'll have another before breakfast. If I'm out I'll have a long black with cream without sugar, followed by a glass of cold water. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it decides if and what you'll be eating before dinner. Usually after 10 AM. My favourite breakfast is 4-5 eggs (depending on size) cooked in a mix of ghee and bacon fat. So I'm eating all the eggs whole, no yolk-only me...more »

[image: undefined] “You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”—George Orwell, *1984* Supposedly the National Security Administration is going to stop collecting certain internet communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target. Privacy advocates are hailing it as a major victory for Americans whose communications have been caught in the NSA’s dragnet. If this is a victory, it’s a hollow victory. Here’s why. Since its creation in 1952, whe...more »

Search This Blog

Translate

Microsoft Translate

opit or oldephartte's shared items

About Me

I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.